C: A Reference Manual (5th Edition) (Paperback)

by Samuel P. Harbison (Author), Guy L. Steele (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
You can find bigger books about C, but you won't find one as authoritative or helpful as this reference manual. Harbison and Steele have now gone through four editions and are beginning to cover language differences which can surprise the experienced C coder moving to C++. As always, the authors do an excellent job of explaining what's standard and what it replaces. No hairy syntax has been omitted, so this volume can make wending one's way through obfuscated code, if not pleasant, at least less miserable. Whether you learned C from Kernighan or some massive tome, you'll want this volume as your day-to-day reference. And you won't mind buying a new edition once in a while, because you'll have worn the old one out by then. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
This authoritative reference manual provides a complete description of the C language, the run-time libraries, and a style of C programming that emphasizes correctness, portability, and maintainability. The authors describe the C language more clearly and in more detail than in any other book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall; 5 edition (March 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013089592X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130895929
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,103 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reference for C (and C++) programmers, October 22, 1999

By	Dennis L. Hughes "Software Engineer" (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: C: A Reference Manual (4th Edition) (Paperback)

I've never understood why this book hasn't gotten more attention, so I'll add my vote to the others.

I'm a professional software developer (MFC, C++, and C). I first learned C in about 1992 using Kernighan and Ritchie, the only other C book you ever need to buy.

I own several other C books, but have found that C ARM is the only one I ever use. Everything is there, in enough detail to answer every question I've ever had about C. The book even covers earlier versions of the language, if you're stuck with an older compiler (or need to port some older code).

Secondly, the book is detailed and strict. Short of checking the actual standards documents, I know of no better way to answer those nit-picky language-lawyer questions that _will_ pop up sooner or later. I use a reference for those things that _don't_ pop up every day, and hence aren't usually covered in a tutorial book. They're in C ARM.

C++ programmers should own a copy of C ARM, too. C is, after all, a "subset" of C++. However, C++ is such a huge language that the standard C++ reference/tutorials like Stroustrup (my preference), or Lippman and Lajoie, leave full coverage of C to other books. That's where C ARM comes in. No, you're not supposed to use printf() in C++ applications, but people do and you may well have to debug their code. If that's not convincing, recall that level of detail that I mentioned above. Stroustrup doesn't even have an ASCII table.

Again, this is definitely not a primer. It is a reference for experienced C programmers. Buy K&R if you want to learn C.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on C, January 30, 2002

By	Eric Koldinger (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: C: A Reference Manual (4th Edition) (Paperback)

This is absolutely the best book on the C language I've ever seen. The coverage is complete and detailed, the appendices accurarately and succinctly detail the ANSI standard C libraries. Basically, if you're writing C code, you need this book. It's displaced K&R on my desk as my C reference; it's easier to read and better organized.

Be forewarned, this is not a tutorial. It's aimed at someone who already knows the language, and needs a detailed description for those nagging questions you can't answer anyplace else.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A reference + more, September 14, 2003

By	Gerry (Perth, Western Australia) - See all my reviews

My friend borrowed this book from me about two weeks ago and won't give it back, I have since turned to my left side over 20 times looking for it to no avail (serious). If I was to describe this book in one word it would be "Clean", everything in this book is just beautiful, from the ease of use, to the technical details, to even it's fonts and thickness of the pages, everything is so clean and precise that the book makes you want to read it and perhaps even keep it on a pillow next to you at night (but enough about my sheltered life).

One thing that I did not expect before receiving this book was the amazing language overview that comes with the book, they could have sold the book with just that part and it would have still been great. The overview goes into great detail and is really good at pointing out things that other C books miss and the fact that the author is well versed on all the features of the latest C99 Standard adds even more to the wealth of information. My favorite part of the book is the part on the C Pre-processor, which had a great deal of information that I was not previously aware of.

Apart from that, there is the reference side which has all the detail you could ever want in a standard library reference book, all in a very simple to search format (Oh yeah and I should mention, the index kicks ....).

So long story short, if you want a single book that you can turn to for 99.9% of your standard C problems, divorce your wife and give that spot in your bed to "C: A Reference Manual (5th Edition)"... or 6th if it's out by the time you read this review.

ps. If your looking for this book in a bookstore make sure the lady types in "C: A Reference Manual (5th Edition)" and not "See: A Reference Manual (5th Edition)", long story, I'll tell you another time.

Hope you enjoyed reading this